Hector's Advice for Parents Who Have Lost a Child

Videos are available with subtitles

Grief is a normal response to losing a loved one, and it is a very individual process. Everyone grieves differently, for different lengths of time, and with different intensity.

There is no standard set of emotions after the loss of a child. Some common feelings and responses include:
• Shock
• Sadness
• Fear
• Anger
• Guilt
• Regret
• Loneliness
• Anxiety or ongoing worries
• Less desire to spend time with others
• Repeated thoughts, mental images, and memories of the child
• Longing for more time with the child and yearning for lost time
• Having trouble falling or staying asleep
• Sleeping more than usual
• Changes in appetite
• Less interest in enjoyable activities
• Difficulty concentrating

While everyone grieves, people experience grief differently. Within a family, spouses may have very different reactions. Children and adolescents follow their own grief paths as well, experiencing loss in ways that range from crying and sadness to misbehavior and even guilt. These are all normal feelings.